To preface: I saw this show on the Christians of old Rome, when they were a minority. If one Christian met someone on the road, whom the Christian thought might be a Christian too, he would casually draw an arc in the sand with his sandal. If the other person was in fact a Christian too, he would recognize the sign and draw a second arc in the sand, which created the Jesus fish image. So that was one of the ways that early Christians recognized each other while avoiding the fate of their Lord.

Now, role players aren't in any danger of execution for practicing our faith *cough* I mean hobby, but we are a minority and many of us do at least feel persecuted. So I think we role players need a Jesus fish to recognize each other. Either a symbol that looks just like a random doodle to the uninitiated, or a unique phrase that can be casually dropped into conversation.

For a symbol I'm thinking of a rectangular box with two letters in it. For example the first gamer draws a box with one letter taking up half the box. The letter would depend on which game or system he or she is "testing for"; R for Role Play, D for D&D, or even Ex for Exalted. If the second person recognizes the test he or she completes the symbol with a second letter.

For a phrase, all I can think of is "that's the way I roll" which nobody would ever use because it's ambiguously sexual. And lame on top of that. Anyone got any better ideas?

I know most people who reply here won't see the point in these sort of codes. Most of us here can find gamers easily enough via message boards and networking sites or by simply talking to people; but there are a lot of gamers out there who don't have regular internet access or who are closet gamers or who just aren't as savvy or who live in oppressive social environments. So even if this idea seems silly, give it a little thought before responding.

I will occasionally drop a bit gamer lingo into the conversation to check for any fellow gamers in the crowd. For example, instead of saying I "messed up" at something, I will instead say I "failed my skill check" for something. Stripped of it's gamer context this is an odd, but understandable, construction. However, anyone who's "down" will pick up on it right away. Things like "Saving Throws", "Hit Points", or the various dice are pretty commonly known and will just "out" you in a mixed group, but we use words like "Feat" or "crit" in a very exact way, which can easily pass under the perception of non-gamers. Just make a Bluff check, and you may be surprised who Senses your Motive.

farewell2kings had a good one - keep a standard 6 sided die in your pocket. Ask people you meet what it is and if they say "d6" - they're a gamer.

Oooh, that's good! Or even better, a d10 so that White Wolf gamers are sure to catch on. Either way, how do you save face if the person isn't a gamer and asks you what it is? "Uhh it's...uh, a good luck charm! Yeah, I'd have a rabbit's foot but I'm a vegetarian so I keep this little plastic charm...yeah..."

doppelganger wrote:

Here in Louisiana, calling the item a 'die' will also show you to be a gamer. The non-gamers here call even a single one a 'dice'.

I don't think that's a regional thing. Until I was about 18 or 20, I used 'dice' as the singular too. I still often have to think about it before I use one word or the other.

I have a Cthulhu fish on the back of my VW. Perplexes most, frightens Christians, makes me grin devilishly everytime I see it. It's only been recognized on two occassions. It's hilarious to listen to someone try to explain it to another person.
"There was this guy, Lovecraft who wrote about Elder Evil that descended from the stars ..."
Ha, sounds like Christianity now that I consider it!

Anyway, I carry a d20 (vibrant translucent yellow) at all times. I occassionally take it out, spin it in my fingers. Gamers instantly recognize it, infidels think it's "pretty."

At the end of the day I feel that the idea of trying to develop secret symbols or hand shakes or what not to identify oneself as a gamer is not a great way forward.

First off the chances of such an idea catching on are pretty remote so its a lot of energy thats not really productive.

Secondly its going to miss a significant amount of the time. Not everyone who is interested in gaming one night a week wants to otherwise be a rabid follower of the hobby. The majority of my players don't spend their lives on the internet descussing D&D - its pretty much just me in the significant sized circle of people I game with. Thus one would essentially be missing potential players left and right 'cause one is only picking up the truly hardcore with this method.

My feelings are essentially if one wants to connect with other gamers then its pretty much a good idea to out oneself as often as possible. Some people might not approve, but most people with real political/religious issues have far bigger fish to fry like violent video games and thongs for tweens.

A more common issue is "some one might peg me for geek!". Well yeah - thats gonna happen. Revel in ones geekdom! Thing is if one is excited by their hobby that will come out and people around you will become interested in whats making you excited. On the other hand if one is acting ashamed of their hobby people will avoid the source of the shame like the plague,

The job of the true faithful is to get out there and round up those that have been hiding the fact that they went to D&D camp when they were 11 and get them back into the game.

I will occasionally drop a bit gamer lingo into the conversation to check for any fellow gamers in the crowd. For example, instead of saying I "messed up" at something, I will instead say I "failed my skill check" for something. Stripped of it's gamer context this is an odd, but understandable, construction. However, anyone who's "down" will pick up on it right away. Things like "Saving Throws", "Hit Points", or the various dice are pretty commonly known and will just "out" you in a mixed group, but we use words like "Feat" or "crit" in a very exact way, which can easily pass under the perception of non-gamers. Just make a Bluff check, and you may be surprised who Senses your Motive.

:)

I do this all the time. And not just to feel out other gamers. I know for a fact that all my coworkers are not gamers and think it's strange that I am to the extent that I am. But I continually refer to my low will save, failed spot check, or low charisma score. They still seem to not get that these are gaming terms, but it makes me feel good to get that out there nonetheless.

I used to wear my Mathematics Association of America cloissonne membership pin when I wore a jacket and tie on campus, (the pin's in the shape of an isocahedron) and I kept being identified as a gamer because of it.

I wear my OotS T-Shirt with Elan and Roy, with Elan saying "I got a 4" ALL the time. I have only had it since January and it is already starting to wear out it has been washed that much.

It gets some strange looks. My wife's Aunt tried to understand when I explained to her that it was a Web Comic and that he was referring to the fact that he rolled a 4 on a d20, but in the end she couldn't wrap her her head around it and just said "so it's an in thing then, you'll only under stand if you read it".